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Mid-Engine Chevrolet Corvette Delayed by Electical Issues

We were surprised to learn last week that the long-awaited mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette would not debut in next month’s Detroit Auto Show and it might not arrive for any of the big shows early in 2019, as GM Authority is reporting that the mid-engine American sports car has been delayed six months.

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Even though General Motors has never openly acknowledged the existence of a mid-engine Corvette program, it was widely expected that the C8 would debut with an all-new drivetrain layout at the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Those expectations were dashed last week when it was clarified that Chevrolet wouldn’t have any cars or sport utility vehicle debuts in the Motor City.

At first, we speculated that the company could debut a mid-engine Cadillac based on the same architecture or they could just be keeping their cards close to their corporate chest, but a new report from GM Authority suggests that we won’t see the mid-engine Corvette debut in Detroit. We also won’t see the next generation car in Chicago or New York, as the project has reportedly been set back six months due to “a major electrical issue”.

Electrical Gremlins
There are no further details on what kind of problems the Chevy team is experiencing with the C8 Corvette, but this report states that the long list of electrical gadgets is proving to be too much for the electrical system already in place, so the engineers will have to re-engineer the system to safely operate all of the technology in the mid-engine supercar.

Why Automakers Keep Quiet
Many readers wonder why automakers don’t come right out and announce new projects when the world thinks that a giving car is in progress, this serves as a fine example of why companies keep quiet. General Motors has never referenced this car, so the company has not made any promises as to when it will debut and when it will reach showrooms. Say that the company had announced earlier this year “yes, we are working on a mid-engine Corvette that will debut in Detroit”, representatives would be getting hounded right now with questions about the upcoming supercar.

Of course, with a delay, representatives would be inundated with questions about the problem that the media relations people likely wouldn’t be permitted to answer, while also being asked for a new debut date. If official, this delay would also serve to generate negative publicity for the company, the Chevrolet brand and the new supercar.

Instead of dealing with all of that, companies wait until they are sure that the car is ready to debut, so rather than answering all of the questions mentioned above, representatives simply reply to mid-engine Corvette questions with some vague, canned reply about “not discussing future products”.

In any case, if this report proves to be true – and we suspect that it is, as GM Authority has been proven to be a good source of inside information – we aren’t likely to see the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette until later in the 2019 calendar.

In the meantime, click here to watch what we believe to be the mid-engine Corvette race car practicing in the dark at Sebring.